Crime in the Workplace

Your need to protect yourself from your co-workers is an unspoken truth. In criminology, we say “crime knows no neighborhood.” In other words, crime is everywhere, not just in one bad place. People are people everywhere. At work, we steal inventory and information from our employers. We steal money and other tangibles from our colleagues. Of course, I do not do those. Of course, youdo not, either. But other people do. Here in America, about 20% of us are habitual perpetrators.

If you work in a small shop, you probably are among people you know well enough. Nonetheless, your company is still in a shared space of some kind, a building, a strip mall, a street. Everyone there is in your world. You cannot know them all.

If you are in a large enterprise, the statistical facts are warnings. If you have 1000 people in your building, then you meet 200 perpetrators every day. Background checks only reveal the habitual, compulsive, or genetic predators who have been caught. But many aggressors are opportunistic and competent. Routine offenders get away with harming others because no one speaks up. And it is not easy to confront a bully or report a thief. So, the harms and crimes continue.

Generally, security falls under the control of the facilities manager. Rarely does an organization have a chief security officer at the same level as the chief financial officer or chief information officer. Facilities managers are concerned only with keeping costs down. Facilities managers seldom have professional training in security. As a result, most buildings have too few guards, posted in the wrong places, at the wrong times, assigned to futile activities. Security is reactive, not proactive.

Badging and other controls for identity and access tend to be minimal and ineffective. You have no idea who is in your building with you. Vagrants know all the ways to get in. Professional thieves have no problem getting through the front door.

Professional thieves work large office buildings with public traffic. They look just like everyone else in our casual dress society. They walk the halls peeking into offices, and trying doors. Laptops are an easy grab.

Engineers and programmers are a special problem. They enjoy getting around locks; and they are good at it. The statistics apply to them as well. People who make a lot of money steal and bully just like poor people. Crime knows no neighborhood. Even the 80% of them who are nice, still leave us vulnerable when they gimmick, jimmy, or shim a lock. They have no control over who the next person will be to come through that door.

Protecting yourself at work begins with a few simple rules. Lock your desk and your computer when you leave the area. Always take your purse or wallet with you. Never leave your laptop, phone, or pad unattended in the cafeteria or restroom.

Generally, if you have a problem with someone, you have six choices.

You can confront them.

You can go to your manager.

You can take it to human resources.

You can report it to security.

You can call the police.

You can ignore them.

The bottom line is that it is better to prevent a problem than to fix one.